In the clear light of 20 years of reflection, it’s abundantly apparent The O.C.’s Marissa Cooper was done dirty. Leading up to her dramatic and heartbreaking Season 3 death, she’d already been through some shit (surviving a literal gunfight) but in the end, it was a car chase en route to the airport that led to her untimely demise.
Fans were torn, but universally outraged. Despite the fact that we’d dealt with three seasons of certified MESS from her character, she was still a beloved member of the Core Four. The teen angst was real on that fateful night in 2006. But sadly, because this was 17 years ago, there was zero online discourse following the landmark TV episode. We had land-lines and AIM; there was no official outlet for our anger, sadness, and disbelief. Like, imagine witnessing Ryan’s car go up in flames and watching Marissa take her last breaths on graduation night and having no one but your Connor Oberst poster to sob to?! We needed a FORUM.
So, I decided to relive my own trauma by re-watching “The Graduates” and live-tweeting everything I wish I could’ve in 2006.
